This invention relates to training and more particularly to an Internet-based training method for providing interactive lessons with guided practice for improved behavioral modification and learning.
It will be appreciated that many companies utilize training seminars in order to modify the behavior of their employees or to provide for more competency in their jobs. Training seminars are usually held at various training sites, which may or may not be within the company""s buildings. Trained personnel are utilized in the training sessions in order to address such problems as the enhancement of career performance, learning and potential, empowerment and personal productivity.
However, the results of such training session are poor. Failure to retain learned content or embed it into behavior, lack of interest, or the fact that the individual must be away from his or her office and out of the workplace and work environment are all significant negative factors in the success of current training processes.
Traditional training has followed two main paths: self-paced or leader-led. In the past the need for training has been determined without a structured or consistent process by supervisors trying to fix performance issues, attitude problems, lack of skill sets and to a lesser degree cultural and soft-skill concerns. Soft skills refer to the ability to deal constructively with others. These have been referred to as Emotional IQ in recent research.
Statistics show that retention from event-style training can be less than 18% of total content presented. Further, interviews with successful business leaders have agreed that less than 10% of the learning required to do advanced jobs is learned through classroom learning experiences.
Moreover, assessment for training needs has been inadequate across all industries resulting in mass training based on the xe2x80x9cfad of the monthxe2x80x9d. The inadequacy becomes more evident when examining training at the individual level. Additionally, the desire in business to be able to develop employees in-house has proved unattainable. The result is that million of training and development dollars are wasted on generic training unaligned to corporate goals.
The advent of web-based and computer-based training has not yielded the reward that was originally promised. Expensive, and largely non-interactive, technology-supported training has not removed barriers to effective training. These include proper assessment for needs, appropriate interactivity for adequate learning, follow-up experiential learning to embed behaviors, and guided practice.
Adult learners have been shown to learn only what they have to and only when they need to. Training in advance of need does not yield results. On-the-job training has been shown to be effective only in teaching technical and functional skills and not the interpersonal skills important in today""s workplace.
Thus, the main reason most people fail in their jobs is that they do not have the necessary behavioral competencies to meet the requirement of their workplace. Practice and feedback are missing from technology-based training. Further, the training cannot address non-verbal weaknesses or lack of interpersonal performance. Additionally, no live modeling level of behavior is possible and the social learning of soft skills is missing.
Moreover, there is an inherent issue of lower sense of priority of self-study, which has yet to be addressed by current training methods.
The above problems with the traditional training and indeed computer-based training are solved in the subject invention by tailoring a program of learning for each individual and by providing learning activities or tasks in the form of mini-lessons to the individual at his or her work place in courses broken down to 2-4 minutes of content delivered in mini content objects followed by practice sessions that are integrated into the workday to be practiced on the job. This content, in one embodiment, is pushed to the individual using any number of technology platforms sending the mini-content objects from a web site to a computer at the individual""s workstation or to his or her personal digital assistant to a web adapted wireless phone, or to a Voice XML over POTS, to give the individual a number of activities or tasks to perform during the day which are short and which can be practiced while at the workplace.
In one embodiment, the individual responses are transmitted back to a central server for analysis so that the individual""s reaction to the content pushed by the system can be evaluated and responses or updates provided.
It is to be noted that the system is not self-paced, but rather is driven at a pace determined to be that which is not disruptive to the individual during his or her workday but forces the individual to interact and learn. In one embodiment, the subject system provides break-time for learner""s vacations, heavy workload periods, travel periods or other possible scheduling challenges.
Thus, whether the individual is at his desk, on a sales call, or a meeting the individual is prompted to learn and practice the small bits of information that are passed to him or her. In some instances, the individual may be required to respond to the information pushed to him or her, again forcing the individual to learn by acknowledging receipt of the pushed information and to respond to it in the manner that can be measured.
The result is that the content is learned and reinforced over the course of the day without taking the learner out of their work environment. Note that assurance of behavioral impact requires training reinforced over time to provide optimal adult learning reinforcement.
In addition to the 2-4 minute content dissemination to the individual, it has been found that brief, 10-15 second guided practices during the day are beneficial to the learning process in terms of retention and behavior modification.
Thus the subject system is active and impacts behavior due to the monitoring of responses to the mini-lessons during the day.
Also removed is the requirement to spent any time away from the job for training, with the subject system directly linking the training to the work environment. Moreover, because the information can be pushed to a pre-determined individual, the training is individualized as opposed to that associated with congregating employees at a training seminar. When the individual gives his or her response, the response can be evaluated and the experiential learning can be targeted more precisely, if needed. Note that the learning is experimental in the sense that it is a xe2x80x9clearn-as-you goxe2x80x9d or apprenticeship regime.
Reinforcement is accomplished by sending guided practice messages every few hours via a variety of technologies including a web-enabled wireless phone, a pager or personal digital assistant and various emerging technologies. When the individual is at his or her desk, the desktop computer can also be utilized for this purpose.
The subject system thus utilizes web-based training and in one embodiment provides a chat room and voice-over-phone web interfaces along with personal digital assistants, cellphones or pagers, which can be utilized to display the pushed information and to accept responses, if required.
Thus, the subject training is xe2x80x9cpushxe2x80x9d or active training rather than passive training, with the system sending out the information and reminding the individual that he must respond, as opposed to having to ask for the training. Because of the two-way facility, individual assessment of competency-based needs is accomplished through the collection of data at a central server.
The subject training method is unique in that it can address specific competencies. Engaged listening, constructive conflict resolution, problem solving, critical thinking, flexible learning, effective decision-making, consistent effectiveness are a few of a virtual plethora of behavioral skills that are addressed in this method. Moreover, the method can identify individual developmental needs through assessment, and a curriculum can be created based on the results of the assessment. For companies addressing global issues, all subject learners can be placed in themed tiers to achieve specific competency-related outcomes. For purposes of discussion, these themed curriculum paths are categorized as: Enhancing Personal Performance, Increasing Individual Potential, Empowerment, Improving Personal Productivity, and Managing Continuous Change.
This method is viewed as the basic support structure for multiple types of learning all utilizing the mini content object to deliver small pieces of training content and follow-up practice. Some areas of interest for individual development supported by this method include: career development, individual competency development, sports/fitness, health/recreation, women""s professional development, travel and leisure, community and shopping and resources.
More specifically, the subject system provides training by automatically transmitting learning activities or tasks to an individual during the day. In one embodiment, this is done over the Internet by transmitting as a series of limited content mini-lessons to an individual""s computer, wireless phone, or personal digital assistant so that the individual learns faster and more completely by being prompted to perform simple learning tasks throughout the workday. Each learning activity or task is limited in duration to approximately 5 minutes or less, depending on content requirement. In one embodiment, the mini-lessons and follow-up activities are designed to be integrated into the learner""s daily experiences without requiring the learner to significantly deflect attention from his or her normal responsibilities or activities.
To begin the program, each learner will generate an individualized development plan via a web-based assessment or by self-selecting critical competency theme areas contained within the system. The personalized plan determines the curriculum and drives the transmission of learning activities or tasks over the Internet to a computer or, alternatively, to a wireless phone, pager, personal digital assistant or a voice-based Internet application available over the plain old telephone system or POTS, currently Voice XML in which voice messages provide the mini-lesson. Each of these technology assists provide a platform on which the course work is delivered to learners who are at remote sites or away from their computers during the day.
The key to impacting learning at the behavioral level is to maintain consistent contact throughout the day to deliver the mini-content lesson followed by experiential guided practices which are sent periodically, approximately 3 times per day, and are brief, i.e. generally limited to 10 seconds to under 5 minutes of lesson activity and follow-up guided practice. The result is personalized training targeted at embedding the mini-lessons into the daily behavior of the learner by sending experientially based learning lessons and guided practices every few hours.
The system utilizes a model of just-in-time experiential learning, incorporating practice on-the-job and continuous support from various technology platforms, allowing the lesson information to be absorbed while at work. This eliminates the requirement to spend time away from the job for training.
To ensure behavioral impact, each mini-lesson is reinforced daily. Responses to the learning tasks result in assessments designed to identify that the learner has successfully acquired the content knowledge before moving on to a new course. Unsuccessful performance on an assessment will automatically return the learner to a secondary path for additional experience based practice. Upon successful completion of each assessment, the learner will be introduced to a new section of their curriculum. Reinforcement of completed learning will be occasionally spiraled or reintroduced into the training to optimize the impact on embedded behavior and therefore the return on learning investment.
As will be seen, a system is provided to deliver individual development to any location by automatically transmitting learning lessons, guided practice or information to the individual a number of times during the day, with each learning activity or practice being limited in duration and packaged as a mini content object. In one embodiment, the Internet is utilized along with push technologies, which, upon competency assessment and development of an individualized curriculum, provides course work in terms of the transmission of learning activities or tasks over the Internet to a computer, wireless phone, pager, personal digital assistant or voice-based web over POTS, in which the course work is delivered to the remote computer throughout the day with guided practice sent periodically and generally limited to 10-30 seconds of guided practice messages. The result is personalized training targeted precisely to alter the behavior, with guided practice messages sent every few hours. The system utilizes a model of just-in-time experience, practice on-the-job and continuous platforms, such that bits of information can be integrated into a workday. This eliminates the requirement to spend time away from the job for training and may directly link the training to the work environment. To ensure behavioral impact, the training is spiraled into the future lessons to ensure that all learning is reinforced multiple times to ensure optimal retention, with the training courses linked, in one embodiment, to a personal assessment designed to identify the biggest gaps between what is important to the success of the individual""s job and their current skill level.
In summary, a system provides training by automatically transmitting learning activities or tasks to an individual during the day. In one embodiment, this is done over the Internet by transmitting as a series of limited content mini-lessons to an individual""s computer, wireless phone, or personal digital assistant so that the individual learns faster and more completely by being prompted to perform simple learning tasks throughout the workday. Each lesson or guided practice range in duration from 15 seconds to approximately 5 minutes or less, depending on content requirement. In one embodiment, mini-lessons and follow-up activities are designed to be integrated into the learner""s daily experiences without requiring the learner to significantly deflect attention from his or her normal responsibilities or activities.